Discharge head for fluid containers



Marhl6,193'l SEALLEN 2,073,670 A DisGHARG HEAD FOR FLUID CONTAINERS" Fild Nov. 19, 1955 N J- f; ff#

2 ll/m A 45 Y f Wm y, 46

INVENTOR `SCOTTUf/V ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 16, `1937` i 2,073,670

.1,)U`NITED @STATES PATENT N oFFicE f o ao'iae'ui j Q l DISCHARGE HEAD ron FLUIDI CONTAINERS scott E..Aiiexi, Glenmdge, N. J., assigndrto` o-o- `Two-Fire Equipment Company, Newark, N. J., a. corporation of Delaware f `Amiimtfum Novemberiic, 1935, serial No. 50,615 `e claim; (creci-73.5)

f The present inventionjrelates' to discharge` to provide a simpler and less costly construction heads `for carbon dioxide cylinders or containers thanthat disclosed in said patent. i i holding f other` .highlyxcompressed `fluidswSuoh A still further object of the `invention is to containers are provided witha `discharge port` provide a rotary cutter instead of the punch wmchiis-usua11y closed by `a sealing disk and shown in said patent, this-rotary cutter being 5 the diskmust` be punctured or cutopen when it arranged to shear a `flap. out of thesealing disk, is desired to dischargefthe contents of the conleaving a portion uncutto serve as a hinge on tainerr` Usually `the tdischargefcontinues until which the flap maybe bent upward into the s ,jthecontainer isemptied, but it isioften desirable cutter underpressure of the discharging `fluid.

`to stopythe `flow before the container has been There is a material advantage in providinga ro 10 l s entirely emptied. In` the case `ofjuportable re tary cutterinstead of A'a non-rotary punch. `Less y extinguishers, it is desirableifor the sake ofecen 'power is required to shear the disk thanto puncomy and alsoforl` the sake of `convenience in ture it. To be surea multiplyingleverage may manipulation-to stoplthe discharge,y,particularly beemployed but it is desirable in a Vportable fire when Shifting the point of attack uponja fire extinguisherrto eiect the release .of the extin- 15 `from one point to another. For this reason, disguishing iiuid with afminimum of effort and also chargeheads for `portable carbon dioxide cylina minimum of manual movement. `The invens ders have been provided` with a manually oper` tion has for an object to provide a device which ated valve between the` sealing disk andthe `dismay be operated to form a complete opening in ,0 charge port so as to cut off the flow at will after the disk upon `turning -a manual controller 20 i the sealing disk has beeni4 punctured. SuchA an through a comparatively `small angle.

[arrangement is shown inv Patent No.4 A1,974,254, In my copending application, Serial No. 47,511, issued, September 18,;1934,A in which the valve filed October 30, 1935, I disclose arotary cutter carries a tubular punch so f arranged that "in the having an extended. cutting edge lying in a ,5i act of depressing the punch to pierce the sealing plane substantially normal tothe longitudinal b I i disk the valve is opened.; i c i axis of the cutter and so arranged thata partial ,i In containers holding highly compressed fluids turn of the cutter will cutV andscore the sealing 4 b such as liquefied carbon dioxide, it is essential i disk through the major part of `a"circle vleaving i that some safety means `.be provided to prevent i an uncut portion on which 'the flap will hinge the. container `from bursting, under excessive asV it is forced up by the pressure of the dise pressure produced by arise of temperature above charging fluid. Such al cuttercould be used in i a predetermined degree. The sealing'disk may the discharge headshown in thepresent applibe designedito burst before a` dangerous pressure cation. However, the .present invention has for b is` reached,` but with a valve blocking escape of an object to provide a rotary cutter having a `the fluid, the sealing disk is useless asa safety helical cutting edge so arranged as to produce s. valve. In the,patentwabovetreferred to this difshearingcut in the sealingrdisk. v ficulty is overcome `by providing means to hold `It is a further object of the present invention the valve normally infslightly open position `so to` arrange for operating a* helical cutter of `the thatshmdthe sealingdisk burst the fluid could type just described in such direction that the b .0 escape past the valveand out of the normal disfshearin'g point will progress from thetrailing end 40 chargeport of the `discharge head. i. i of the cutting edge to the leadingend thereof.` "An` object of the present invention isto pro- A"Other objects and advantages of my inventionr vide a discharge head in which the valve maybe will appear in the following description of `a prelockednormally in closed position withoutblookferred embodiment and thereafter the `novelty c5 ingtdischarge of the fluid should its `pressure rise i andscope of the invention will be pointed out in 45 suftlcientlytoburstthesealing disk.` In a`pre` the claims. i i* y o inferred embodimentof my invention a safety port In the accompanyingdrawing;

n is` provided in the discharge head between theV Figure 1 is a view in vertical section through valve and the sealing disk and this port is non` my improveddischarge head; b

;0 mally closed by a safety disk which will burst `Fig. 2 isaview in side elevation of my improved 50 at substantially the same pressure as that at cutter in the actof makingfirstcontact with which the sealing disk Wiliburst, euch pressure the sealing disk; s, s beingfwell belowt t at which the cylinder it Fig. 3 is a view of the cutter after it has com- Selfwoldzbursn plated its cut and ,the ap has been forced up i ther object of thepresent invention'is" into theA tubular cutter; and,

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a sealing disk showing the disk at the instant that the complete cut has been made and before the flap has been forced f 15 ment of such bore. The lower end of the plug I4 carries a sealing disk I6 which normally prevents discharge of fluid from the cylinder. In order to permit of screwing the plug tightly against its seat it is provided with flutes I'I to receive a suitable key-wrench. Above the plug I4 the bore of the tting is further enlarged to provide a lower discharge chamber I8.

The upper end 4of the fitting I2 is externally threaded and a tubular casing 20 is screwed thereon. 'Ihis casing is formed with an annular shoulder 2| which is tightly screwed down upon the upper edge yof the iitting I2 so`as to form a gas tight seal between the tting I2 and the casing 30 20. The bore of the tubular casing forms an extension 22 of the chamber I8. The side wall of this chamber extension 22 is of conical form and extends to an upper chamber 23 of reduced diameter. The conical wall 24 serves as a seat for a plug valve 25 which when closed separates the chamber 23 from the lower vchamber 22-I8.

'I'he valve 25 has a stem 26 which passes out through the upper end of the casing 20. On this valve stem there isla threaded portion 21 which engages a suitable thread in the bore of the casing so that by turning the stem the valve 25 may be lowered or raised. The projecting end of the stem 26 is provided with a hand wheel 28 for turning the same and a stuiling box 29 about the valve stem above the threaded portion thereof serves to prevent escape of iiuid along the stem.

To cut open the sealing disk I provide a tubular cutter 30 which has athreaded shank 3| by which it is screwed tightly into a socket formed in the valve 25. 'I'he lower end of the tubular cutter is formed' with an inwardly sharpened helical cutting edge 32. The cutting endo! the cutter is also formed with a 4recess 33 which limits the cutting edge also to an extent of about 180 degrees. This cutter,.as will be explained more fully hereinafter, is arranged to cut a flap out of the disk, and the discharge of :Huid takes place through the tubular cutter and thence out through lateral openings 34 into the chamber I8.

0 Since the valve must be opened to forcethe cutter into cutting position the fluid will pass on into the upper chamber. and discharges through ports 35. These ports open through a threaded lateral tubular projection 36 to which a hose or e5 pipe may be coupled to convey the fluid to a desired point.

Opening out of the extension 22 of chamber I8 is a safety port 38 which is normally closed by a 70 safety disk 39 held in place by a tubular plug 48.

In order to hold the valve normally in closed position the upper end of the casing 20 is provided with a lug 42 having a vertical bore therethrough to receive a pin 44 which is passed through an u aperture in the hand wheel 28. This aperture is so positioned as to be alined with the bore of the lug 42 when the valve 25 is tightly closed.

The safety feature of my invention operates as follows: 'I'he safety disk 39 is made of such strength as to rupture under stantially the same as that which will rupture the sealing disk- I6 and this pressure is well below that which will cause the cylinder I n to burst. Thus, should there be an abnormal rise of pressure in the cylinder I 0 it would rst burst the would be no danger of an explosion of the cylinder III.

The operation of the cutter is as follows: When it is desired to discharge fluid from the cylinder I0 the locking pin 44 is removed and the hand wheel 28 is turned in the direction of the arrow to rotate thecutter and feed it downwardly into cutting engagement with the sealing disk I6. It will be observed that the valve stem has a left-hand thread 21 while the cutting edge 32 is a right-hand helix. Thus, as the cutter is turnedin the direction of the arrow the lowermost point of the helix will be the trailing end and the point of shearing engagement will progress in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 2 from the trailing end toward the leading end. As shown in Fig. 4 the first point of engagement of the cutting edge with the disk will be at A. The parts are so proportioned that by the time the cutter has moved through 45 degrees the shearing point will have advanced to the leading end of the cutter and a cut will be made oi' 225 degrees, leaving 135 degrees of the complete circle uncut. However, the pressure of the fluid will shear out a iiap I6a which will give a wide lngA in the disk but open the disk so that there will be no danger of having jamming passages along the line of fluid discharged but also in creating short circuits where the discharging duid is directed upon the re in an electrical apparatus.

i scope of my invention 'as pointed out in -the fol- It is necessary to limit the rotation of the cutter so that it, will not be forced down `far enough to tear off the flap; To this end the hub of the `hand wheel 28 is formed with a shoulder 45 `which engages a packing nut 46 of the stuiling box 29 when the cutter has been advanced to the desired limitof thecutting movement. Obviously any other suitable means may be provided for limiting the movement of the cutter.

While I have described a preferred embodiment `of my invention I wish it to be understood that `this is to be taken as illustrative and not limitative and that I reserve the right to make various changes in form,v construction and arrangement of partswithout departing from the spirit and i lowing claims.

i. I claim: Y

i l. A discharge head for a uid container hav- `going a` discharge port normally closed by a seal i rupturable byarise of fluid pressure abovea predetermined degree but below that at which the C container will rupture, said head comprising a body adapted to be secured to thecontainer over said port and formed with a discharge passage for iluid released from the container, means operable at will for opening the seal to release fluid from the cylinder, a valve normally blocking said passage but operable to open the passage, and safety means betweenthe seal and valve for relieving a rise of iluid pressure above a predetermined normal.

2. A discharge head for a fluid container hav- `ing a. discharge port normally closed by aseal rupturable by a rise of fluid pressure above a predetermined `degree but below that at which the container will rupture, said head comprising a. body adapted to be secured to the container over said port and'formed with a discharge passage for fluid released from the container, means operable at will for opening the seal to release "fthe huid from the cylinder, a valve normally lolocking said passage but operable to open the passage, a safety port opening out of the body i5 from thepassage between the valve and the seal, and a closure for said safety port rupturable at substantially the same pressure as that at which the seal will rupture.

`3. A discharge `head for a container holding formed with `a passage for the discharge o fluid from `the container, a sealing disk at the entrance of the passage normally preventing discharge of fluid under pressure, said headcomprising a bodyter iixedto the valve and having a helical cutting edge oppositely pitched with respect to said screw means and arranged to shear a flap out ofthe sealing disk, a stop limiting rotation of the cutter to leave an uncut portion on which the ilap may hinge as it is forced outwardly under pressure of the discharging fluid.

4.` A discharge device for a container holding iluidunder pressure and having a discharge port closed by a sealing disk, said device comprising a tubular cutter having a helical cutting edge, means for simultaneously advancing and turning the cutter to cut the disk arcuately in such direction that the cutting point will advance along thehelical edge, and a stop for limiting movement of the cutter after it has sheared out a flap in the disk having an arcuate extent of more itis rotated to open and close the passage, a cutthan 180 degrees but sufficiently less than 360 y out by pressure of said iiuid. i

i 5; A discharge device for a container holding fluid under pressure and having a discharge port closed by a sealing disk, said device comprising a tubular cutter having a helical cutting" edge, means for simultaneously advancing and turning the cutter to cut the disk arcuately in such directionthat the cutting point will advance along the helical edge, and a stop for limiting movement of the cutter after it has sheared out a flap in the disk having an arcuate extentof more than 180 degrees but sufficiently less than 360 `degrees toleave an uncut portion on which the `flap will hinge without tearing off as it ls forced out by pressure of said iluid,`the cutter `being sharpened `inwardly so that the cutting a tubular cutter having a helical cutting edge and a recess 'limiting the cutting edge to substantially 180 degrees in extent, means for simultaneously advancing and turning the cutter to out the disk arcuately in Vsuch direction that the cutting point will advance along the helical edge, and a stop for limiting the movement of the cutter after it has sheared out a flap in thedisk having an arcuate extent of more than 180 de grees but-[sufficiently less than` 360 degrees to leave an uncut portion on which the `flap will hinge without tearing oir as it is forced out by pressure 'of said fluid.

. SCO'IT E. ALLEN. 

